Zaren blinked, and within a millisecond, Julicious vanished from his sight. "Where is he?" Zaren muttered in fear. A drop of blood fell to the ground, followed by another. Julicious was behind Zaren; by the time Zaren noticed him, it was already too late. A clean cut followed, and blood rushed down.
Zaren moved a few steps back and saw Julicious's body was still bleeding, but Julicious didn't seem to care at all.
Time passed; neither of them could land a decisive blow. Twenty minutes later, both bodies were covered in cuts and blood, but their eyes held a particular look, as if mocking the other. "Is that all you can do?"
Zaren's body was tired from fighting at such intensity, but Julicious was more or less the same as when he had stood, though his flickering eyes signified he wasn't in good condition either.
Zaren moved his blade, but it lacked any strength behind the attack. Julicious's eyes were closing, but he tried his best to block the blow. A faint clink sound emerged, barely audible.
Julicious pushed Zaren back.
Zaren's body was too weak to move properly and fell back. In contrast, Julicious was still standing his ground, but his fatigue was evident. His eyes had turned red and flickered intensely before finally closing on their own.
One lay down, and the other stood still. Neither was a clear winner nor a loser. As time passed, Zaren's body began to recover; his eyelids started to move. Conversely, Julicious's fingers showed signs of consciousness.
After five minutes, Zaren was much better than before. He quickly opened his eyes, jumped a few meters back, and lost his balance due to fatigue.
He looked towards Julicious in anger. "What have you done to me...?" he said, facing Julicious. He started taking deep breaths, muttering, "Calm down, Zaren, calm down." Zaren looked at Julicious with clenched teeth, slowly muttering in anger.
Zaren tightened his grip on his blade's handle, which had fallen a few centimeters away. He used his blade to stand and stare at Julicious.
Zaren cut his palm, and his blood rolled across his blade.
His blood had a strange, familiar dark energy, but it was more reddish than before.
As blood moved across his blade, it began to turn darker and darker. Earlier silver, the blade was now black to the core, with red streaks in between.
Zaren stabbed the tip of his blade into his chest area, and the same dark energy coursed through his entire body. Within a few minutes, his wounds completely healed, and his erratic breathing returned to normal. He looked towards Julicious with bloodlust.
Zaren took his first step. As he lifted his leg for another, he disappeared and reappeared just in front of Julicious. He covered three meters in an instant, a speed unsettling in its lack of hesitation.
Julicious didn't react at all to his speed or the palpable hatred emanating from Zaren, remaining exactly where he was.
Zaren swiftly swung his blade. Julicious's body was enveloped by a strange energy that absorbed a significant portion of the attack's strength and the dark energy's effect.
"Not his time!" Zaren roared, his energy overflowing multiple times within a few seconds. It shattered Julicious's shield and pierced through.
Just as everything seemed about to end for Julicious, a strong energy pressure erupted from his body, making it difficult for Zaren to focus and control his own energy. However, it wasn't enough to stop him now. The energy around Julicious began to converge on the point of impact.
After a few minutes of struggle, Zaren roared, channeling dark energy throughout his body to fuel his strength. As a result, he sent Julicious flying several meters away. But he didn't stop, continuing his relentless assault.
Within minutes, he had unleashed over two hundred and forty attacks and showed no signs of stopping. A minute later, Zaren moved a few meters back and gathered all his strength, focusing his energy on the edge of his blade with a soft hiss. He released his energy in a single, devastating strike.
The ground beneath them split open from the attack as it hurtled towards Julicious with incredible intensity, hitting him instantly. All the remaining energy around Julicious tried to counter the dark energy and the impact, but the pressure only intensified.
Julicious's body was dragged along with the attack for approximately seven hundred meters within five minutes. The attack was cracking the energy protecting Julicious. A sickening cracking sound emanated from Julicious's stomach area, where the slash managed to cut him nearly in half.
"I will not make the same mistake," Zaren said, extending his arms to hold his blade. He gripped the handle firmly and started running towards Julicious. Zaren's earlier attack had cut Julicious's stomach area, but fortunately, its speed had significantly reduced by then, though it still managed to cut through Julicious's armor and leave a deep, layered wound.
Zaren swung his blade and began attacking Julicious. His blade left cuts across various parts of Julicious's body, but Julicious didn't wake and remained there emotionless, as if nothing had happened. "What's going on?" Zaren said, moving a few steps back to recover.
"I should not stop. This is my chance. I will not leave him alive; he is already a danger to us if he..." Zaren deliberately cut his sentence short and prepared to attack. "I will finish him with a single strike." Zaren moved ten meters away from Julicious and pointed his blade towards the sky.
Zaren closed his eyes and began to concentrate. After a few minutes, he opened them. That strange energy began to envelop his entire body. Within moments, he was completely immersed in that strange energy. Everything became still, as if something terrible was about to happen.